【推荐1】Many people are well aware of the benefits of teaching our children to love reading.     1     Here is how you fit yourself in regular reading with your children.

Select a suitable time of day. The most suitable time of day is often bedtime but it might not be suitable for you. So it is important to consider your free time throughout the day. If reading a goodnight story at 8 pm. has you yawning(打哈欠)and trying hard to remain awake, perhaps a story before dinner, or a story in the afternoon will work out better.     2    

Break down the reading if necessary. Rather than try to go through five chapters of a large book each night, cut it down to two chapters.     3     When the choice is nothing at all, books with fewer chapters will be much preferred by your child.

Read loud together.     4     If an older child who is able to read finds this “unfair” or “annoying”, you can let him read something that interests him and read it out loud to the family. Another way to gather more than one child is to read stories in turn and have each of them listen politely. As a result, they will love hearing and favor such group activity.

    5     It goes a long way. When your children read anything -the label off a packet or a book, be sure to praise their reading at every chance you get. Thus, you are creating a reading culture in your family, which is an important way of helping children cope with their feelings and problems, as well as answering their curiosities, and developing their imagination.

A．Read every night.

B．Praise your children.

C．Rather than read five storybooks, cut it down to two.

D．Do remember a suitable time for reading varies among children.

E．When you have more than one child, make reading done together.

F．You need to direct this decision to make it fit in rather than miss it.

G．Less easy to do, however, is finding regular time to read with our children.

【推荐3】The chance of a snowy holiday season in most American cities is practically impossible this year,so any festive atmosphere to be enjoyed will have to be the imaginary sort. Luckily, there are books for that.

The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

Any reader of fairy tales knows Andersen's responsible for the snowy scenes in The Snow Queen,the story of children Kay and Gerda,who must face the goddess­like woman who controls all snowflakes after Kay is kidnapped.

Family Life by Akhil Sharma

It's a beautiful yet tragic novel about an Indian family immigrating to America,only to face entirely new hardships.Sharma's novel isn't entirely set in the wintertime, but his poetic descriptions of winter weather as lovely yet isolating make it a great choice for a December read.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Go ahead and give up the movie adaptation that has been produced recently and read or re­read the classic itself.You know the story:a scientist driven by his ambition discovers a method for creating life, and spends two years cobbling together a living creature, who later feels angry with him.

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard

Dillard's first book is,as its title suggests,about her change from being a self­centered child to being an adult more concerned with the world around her than with her own personal concerns.Her parents are key figures in the story.One famous scene takes place during what the author calls “a big snow”,in 1950.

1. Who wrote a novel about The Snow Queen?

A．Annie Dillard.	B．Mary Shelley.
C．Akhil Sharma	D．Hans Christian Andersen.

2. Which novel is about an Indian's family?

A．The Snow Queen.	B．Family Life.
C．An American Childhood.	D．Frankenstein.

3. What do we know about Frankenstein?

A．It has been adapted for movies.	B．It's about the secret history.
C．It's about an Indian family.	D．It's a fairy tale.

4. From An American Childhood, we know the main characters are ________.

A．self­centered children	B．adults
C．scientists	D．Dillard's parents

【推荐1】Finnish researchers say they have produced coffee in a laboratory that smells and tastes very similar to the real thing. The team reports that lab-grown coffee could be important as climate change continues to threaten traditional coffee farming.

       Scientists at Finland’s VTT Technical Research Center created cell cultures (培养物) from the leaves of coffee plants. The process involves floating the cell cultures in bioreactors (生物反应器) filled with nutrients. The same method is used to make other kinds of animal- and plant-based products.
       Heikki Aisala is a VTT researcher who oversaw the process. Aisala said that cups of the cellular (细胞的) coffee probably would not pass taste tests comparing it to traditional coffee. “Not like, of course, 100 percent. It tastes like a combination of different types of coffees,” Aisala said. The researcher added that while the cellular coffee is not ready for the market just yet, “it certainly does resemble coffee at the moment.” Aisala added it is possible that the lab-grown version could one day develop into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
       VTT Research team leader Heiko Rischer said cell cultures offer a more sustainable way to make coffee. This is because coffee is in high demand. This has led to countries opening up more land to grow coffee beans, which causes increased deforestation (滥伐森林). Rischer said the environmental benefits of lab-grown coffee include reduced use of pesticides(农药) and fertilizer and less need to ship coffee beans long distances to markets.
       In Europe, lab-grown coffee would need to be approved before it could be marketed. But an important question remains: Will coffee lovers actually drink the lab-grown creation? A Reuters reporter put that question to Satu, a server in a Helsinki coffee shop.
       “I think someday we’re going that way because all the natural coffee sources are disappearing,” she said. “So, we have to move along... if it tastes good and the aroma (香味) is coffee based, so why not? I think it’s possible.”
1. Compared to traditional coffee, the lab-grown coffee        .

A．has a lower cost and more production

B．hardly meets people’ S taste need

C．can’ t be accepted because of its looks

D．is unable to be produced in a large scale

2. What can we know from Paragraphs 1 and 2?

A．There’S no difference between lab-grown coffee and traditional coffee.

B．Researchers think lab grown coffee is beneficial to people’s health.

C．Traditional coffee farming are being affected by the climate change.

D．The new method can be only used to grow lab-grown coffee.

3. Researchers seem doubtful whether        .

A．the taste of the lab-grown coffee can be improved

B．the lab-grown coffee will be approved in Europe

C．the customers will accept the lab-grown coffee

D．natural coffee sources will disappear in the future

4. Cell cultures provide a better way to make coffee because        .

A．it doesn’t need pesticides and fertilizer

B．it’s extremely friendly to the environment

C．it will increase the forest coverage

D．it reduces the fuel consumption of ships

【推荐3】Virginia Guarddon can’t remember her life without some sort of art. She stared playing the piano when she was 6. At 10, she came across works by the Spanish poet Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, and she was hooked. She started writing poems that would be featured in a couple of books.

There’s something else that’s always been in her life: a type of skin lupus (狼疮) . “All of my life, I tried to find ways to make it better,” Guarddon said. “And that led to my trying to help others feel better about their skin.” The attempt took her to the U.S. in 1994, where she studied science and piano. And then she began a career in skin care. “ To me, skin is a form of art,” she said. “ I love making women feel beautiful.”

“ I wanted to create something of my own,” Guarddon said. “ I wanted to realize my dream.” Her dream? Combining all of her passions into one.

The result is Poet’s Garden Apothecary, Guarddon’s own skin care line and the online business: Poet’s Garden Alchemist. Guarddon teamed up with a laboratory to create her line of products, which she called “skin poetry”. The products, made for every skin type, include an oil face cleanser, day cream and night cream. With each purchase, customers receive a custom poem from one of the company’s contributors. And some earnings from the business go to the Poetry Foundation.

In the first few months of running business, Guarddon said, Poet’s Garden Alchemist is turning into an online poet’s movement. She often hosts live poetry readings on Instagram. “ To me, skin care and poetry go together,” she says. “ I’m trying to show that beauty is not just skin deep. It’s about our voice and how we express it.”

1. What inspired Guarddon to start her skin care art?

A．Gustavo’s works.	B．Her passion for music.
C．Her early experience.	D．The dream of being a poet.

2. What can we know about “skin poetry” products?

A．They are made in a laboratory.

B．They are created to cure skin lupus.

C．They win high praise from customers.

D．They get financial support from the Poetry Foundation.

3. Which of the following best describes Guarddon?

A．Reliable and modest.	B．Smart and hard-working.
C．Creative and caring.	D．Determined and ambitious.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．How to Cure Skin Lupus	B．A Special Skin Product
C．The Secret to Running Business	D．Putting Passions into Business

【推荐1】How to overcome challenges in your life

We all face tough and difficult challenges in life. To overcome challenges you need to have that “never quit” attitude in life. If you develop it, you’ll overcome quite a bit.

Motivate yourself. Say “YES, I CAN.” The challenge should bring out the best of you in this situation. Slow it down, and think that process through.     1     If you develop that mindset (心态), you’ll get it done.

    2     Remain calm when you’re facing serious troubles and problems in life. You have to recollect yourself, and calm down. You can’t solve problems when you’re panicking. Take a deep breath, relax, and slow it down. Think things through calmly.

Let failure and fear fuel you in a positive way. Everyone fails at times. If you fail the first, second, or third time, don’t give up.      3     Learn what made you fail at overcoming these challenges.

Simplify the challenge you’re facing. Make the challenge easier than it is.     4     As you get through each step, you develop more confidence and you believe you can get it done, and then you will.

Stay positive and confident.     5     You have to find out all the ways you can use to overcome it, and put them to full use with all your effort. It’s our own mental stability that’s the difficult part. When you do it mentally, you’ll actually be able to do it.

A．Stay calm and cool headed.

B．Think the best, not the worst.

C．Start by breaking it down into steps.

D．To overcome a challenge, you have to believe you can really do it.

E．Most people will avoid any challenge, because they’re scared of failing.

F．Develop that confidence in saying there’s no way you’re going to fail at this.

G．Pick yourself up, and learn from why you’ve failed, and move on in a positive direction.

【推荐2】A hybrid electric vehicle（混合动力车）or HEV is a vehicle driven by the combination of petrol engine and electric motor. Terence has been driving a HEV for five years. He really doesn't understand why more people aren't accepting them. "I probably spend about $ 7 a day on petrol," "the taxi diver told news. com. au. In his previous conventional vehicle Terrence said he was spending up to $ 30 a day an petrol, meaning he saves almost $ 6000 every year.

The Toyota spokesman said this was quite a high saving and official tests estimate（估计）an average driver would only save about 33 percent off their current bill. This means a driver paying $ 30 a day on petrol would see their bill drop to about $ 20 using the hybrid. "A taxi driver that drives in built-up areas and spends little time on highways will notice a higher fuel saving," he said. "Low speeds allow the electric motors to be used more and the petrol engine used less."

While some people are skeptical about how reliable hybrids are, Terrence said he had never run out of power. His Camry cost about $ 34,000 and so after five years, it's nearly paid for itself. "For cab drivers, it's a real advantage because of the cost-effectiveness," he said. Terrence has no complaints about the car. "I love it, the calm and quietness of it, the simplicity of it-you just jump in and go. The maintenance is really low. But the only difficulty is finding someone to service the car as there are not many experienced mechanics.

Terrence said it's "extraordinary" that more drivers aren't buying more hybrid electric vehicles and that governments are not encouraging this more. "I think people have a view that you have to plug it in which is not true. A lack of information about the cars may he stopping people from taking the plunge. It's not promoted at all for the public to understand-it's simplifying the actual owning of a car-you don't have to do so many things to own it and run it, it's just so much simpler. Why wouldn't the government promote such a thing?

1. How much does an average drive save each day by driving a hybrid?

A．$ 30	B．$ 20
C．$ 10	D．$ 7

2. Terrence's problem with his HEV at the moment is about the ________.

A．speed	B．power
C．price	D．service

3. What does Terrence think prevents the popularity of hybrid cars?

A．The difficulty in servicing the car.

B．The restriction of the government.

C．The lack of information about HEV.

D．The inconvenience with charging the car.